New 'roo joins Jessen zoo

Pogo, a 1 year-old kangaroo, sits in his owner Chris Jessen's lap Monday as Jessen pets him at their Loveland home. Jessen's wife, Pam, relaxes in the background. The Jessens also have a wallaby, miniature cows, donkeys, chickens, peacocks and a dog. Pogo, who wears a diaper and a T-shirt, spends a lot of time inside the house hanging out with the family.
(
Jenny Sparks
)

The list of exotic pets banned in Colorado is extensive. No chimpanzees, wildebeests, piranhas or raccoons, among others.

But one Loveland man has found a loophole, and its name is Pogo.

He's a 1-year-old red kangaroo, and he lives on Chris Jessen's farmhouse near U.S. 287 and Colorado 60.

"When we first brought him in and you watch him hopping around with your kid, you kind of go, 'Oh my god, there's an actual kangaroo in the house.' It's pretty crazy," says Jessen, 41.

When he's not bouncing about the living room, Pogo hangs out in a backyard pen with an 8-year-old wallaby named Micah. Jessen and his marsupials shares a 5-acre property with two humans (wife Pam and 1-year-old Maddi), 30 exotic chickens, 10 36-inch-tall "micro-miniature" cows, a donkey, three peacocks and a St. Bernard named Miley.

Jessen says his interest in offbeat pets started ten years ago with a trip to Australia.

"I was down on Kangaroo Island and they were just so friendly, so I wanted to see if I could have them," he says.

So Jessen found a marsupial saleswoman in Elizabeth, and he's never looked back.

"This is my hobby," he says. "Like knitting is for some people."

Of course, the only difference between knitting a garment and rearing a red kangaroo is that the latter will grow to 120 pounds, with the ability to run 40 mph and cover 35 feet in a single bound.

Though he's had Micah for nearly a decade, Pogo's only been with Jessen for a few months. Jessen said he was pleased to adopt Pogo after the 'roo had passed the bottle-feeding stage. Micah took much more babying, so to speak, including around-the-clock attention that frequently boiled over into family grocery store runs.

"People definitely stared," Jessen says.

To Jessen's knowledge, Pogo and Micah are Larimer County's lone representatives of their respective species. Unless, of course, you count the packets of ground kangaroo meat sold at Sprouts in Fort Collins.

Because kangaroos and wallabies can be legally owned in this state, Mark Caddy, a spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said his department has no way of tracking fluctuations in the state's marsupial population.

And for good reason. Pogo alone requires an expensive diet, a handmade diaper, a daily hourlong cuddle session on the couch with Jessen and a 6-foot-high fence to prevent escapes.

Jessen's other pets get plenty of attention, too. His pet donkey, for example, loves to play Frisbee.

"He's not an athlete, but he'll fetch it," Jessen says.

While Jessen may be a shining example of proper exotic pet ownership, the state strongly discourages any reckless kangaroo adoption or purchase.

"The advice I'm going to give is that they better check into the care requirements and the space requirements first, because there's many," Caddy says. "Any time you talk about some kind of exotic animal, it's just a matter of knowing the husbandry of the exotic animal you're getting."